Assault on Iraq funeral, other attacks kill 96

People inspect the site of a double suicide bomb attack, in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. Two suicide bombers, one in an explosives-laden car and the other on foot, hit a cluster of funeral tents packed with mourning families in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, the deadliest in a string of attacks around Iraq that killed at least 92 on Saturday. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Two suicide bombers, one in an explosives-laden car and the other on foot, struck a cluster of funeral tents packed with mourning families in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, the deadliest in a string of attacks around Iraq that killed at least 96 people yesterday.

The assaults, the latest in a months-long surge of violence, are a chilling reminder of insurgents’ determination to reignite sectarian conflict more than a decade after the U.S.-led invasion.

Thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violent attacks in recent months – a level of bloodshed not seen since Iraq pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008 – despite appeals for restraint from Shiite and Sunni political leaders.

The attack on the funeral was one of the largest single terrorist assaults on civilians in Iraq in recent years. It happened shortly before sunset in the densely populated Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad.

The police said at least 72 people were killed and more than 120 were wounded in that attack. One bomber was able to drive up near the tent before detonating his deadly payload, and another on foot blew himself up nearby, the police said.

The explosions set the tents and several nearby cars on fire, sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city.

“I saw several charred bodies on the ground and tents on fire and also burning cars. Wounded people were screaming in pain,” said Sheik Sattar al-Fartousi, one of the mourners. “The scene was horrible. The funeral turned into an inferno.”

He said the first blast went off as dinner was being served in one of several tents set up for the funeral of a member of the al-Fartousi tribe. He estimated that more than 500 people were attending the event.

Civilian pickup trucks loaded with casualties and ambulances with sirens blaring were seen racing from the scene.

“This funeral was not a military post or a ministry building, yet it was still targeted,” said Hussein Abdul-Khaliq, a government employee. “This shows that no place and no one is safe in Iraq.”

Less than two hours after the funeral attack, another car bomb blast struck a commercial street in the nearby Ur neighborhood, killing nine people and wounding 14, according to the police.

Gunmen later shot up a shop that has been discretely selling liquor in the largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah, killing four people, police said.

Earlier in the day, insurgents launched a suicide attack on a police commando headquarters in the city of Beiji, an oil refining center 115 miles north of Baghdad. Guards managed to kill one suicide bomber, but the three others were able to set off their explosive belts inside the compound, killing seven policemen and wounding 21 others, the police said. Two more were killed in later violence.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the day’s attacks. Al-Qaida’s local franchise in Iraq frequently targets Shiite civilians and security forces in an attempt to undermine public confidence in the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.